Graduate
Jean Nouvel's suspended bookshelf: one support shelf, steel tie rods and floating shelves.
3000 × 2030 × 350 mm
Source: spec sheet PDF — Composition CG2030 — published as W 300 × D 35 × H 203 cm
2003
Description
Overview
Graduate is the suspended bookshelf by Jean Nouvel. Molteni&C describes it as architectural precision turned into a single furniture element: a modular bookcase conceived as a suspended line, with an extraordinary sense of lightness.
Construction
A single thick support shelf is fixed to the wall or the ceiling and hides a steel brace mechanism. Slender stainless steel tie rods marked with numbered notches carry adjustable shelves in aluminium-faced material.
Specifications
- Composition CG2030: 300 cm wide, 35 cm deep, 203 cm high
- Maximum capacity: 120 kg for W 100, 240 kg for W 200, 360 kg for W 300; 25 kg per shelf
Story
A suspended line
According to the page, the design reads as a suspended line that seems to defy gravity, and the name reflects the ascending composition. The single top shelf anchors the whole system; the steel braces hidden inside it distribute the weight evenly, so the clean, uninterrupted lines stay intact.
Shelves that appear to float
From that base, slender steel tie rods descend, each with numbered notches that set the position of the adjustable shelves. The page says these fine elements balance transparency and structure so that the shelves appear to float in space.
